couchmoney

trivia

Games for Film Lovers.

The best film trivia game ever made.

According to me.

Click the Login button below to start playing!

Or read the FAQ below if you want to know what critics have been raving about.

★★★★ Top Gun: Will G ★★★★

Will G is the current Top Gun, and has won $27,300 of prop department currency with 55 wins from 90 group games.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does it work?

You login with your Google or Trakt account.

You play games about movies.

How good is it?

It's the best film trivia game ever made.

How can I find people to play against?

Do you have friends? Try asking them.

We have a Discord channel, but it's not very active yet.

What's different about this game?

Other than being the best film trivia game ever made, it:

  • has a very well-sourced database - over 150,000 unique film clips for over 12,000 films.
  • has a proper difficulty system - the multiple-choice answers actually make sense, and the difficulty can be dialled from "my grandmother would have gotten that" to "Leonard Maltin wouldn't have gotten that".
  • was developed by someone who has always wanted this exact type of quiz. I've been percolating this thing in my head for over ten years.
  • is designed to be played over Zoom calls for all of us trapped indoors during the lockdown.

How does it really work though?

You create a room. That room code can be shared with friends, or you can play solo by clicking "Switch to Ready" when it's just you in the room.

In room setup, you define the parameters of the game:

Difficulty: how hard you want the questions. "All" means all questions are considered. "Easy" is really easy. "Insane" is insanely hard.

Films: You can filter the films you see by decade or genre. You can't combine decade and genre filters because there aren't enough films in many of those combos.

Languages: You can play with only English-language films, or with any films. The database is English-heavy. Most other languages don't have enough films in the database to warrant a game mode for now.

Clip Length: The length of the film clips played. 5 seconds is the default but I recommend 3 or 4 seconds for a better challenge. 10 seconds makes the game pretty easy.

Rounds: You can play up to 6 rounds. Later rounds get harder, so a 6-round game will be more difficult than a 1-round game regardless of "Difficulty" setting.

Questions per Round: How many films you see per round. I recommend that Rounds multiplied by Questions per Round should be divisible by the number of players. So for a 12-player game, 4 rounds of 6 questions would be a good choice because every player will have the same number of category bonus opportunities.

Clock: After this number of seconds, players will be timed out when selecting categories or answering questions. Players with three timeouts will get booted from the game. If you play "Untimed", your game will hang if a player never answers, so I recommend setting this to 60 seconds even if you don't want time pressure.

Speed Bonus: Speed bonuses are an extra 100 points that may be awarded for answering quickly. "None" means that players don't get speed bonuses. "First Half" means that the first half of players who answer a question get the speed bonus, if they get the question correct. "First Correct" means that the first correct answer per question gets a speed bonus. "First Answer" means that only the first player to answer gets the speed bonus, if they get the question correct.

The game starts when all players click the "Switch to Ready" button. Games are made up of rounds. Each round is made up of questions.

In round 1, questions are worth 100 points. In round 2, they are 200 points, and so on. Speed and Category Bonuses are always worth 100 points, regardless of round.

Each round, one player (the "active player") selects a category. That player receives a category bonus of 100 points if they get that question correct. The active player rotates each question.

You then see a clip and name the film. There is a "Skip" button which you can use to skip the clip to have a better shot at the speed bonus.

After the normal rounds are over, there is a final "Bonus Round". In the Bonus Round, players can wager up to 100% of their points on whether they will get the question right.

The game is over when there is a winner. If there is a tie after the Bonus Round, tiebreaker Bonus Rounds are played until there is a clear winner.

Tiebreakers get more difficult if they go on for a while. We've had 10+ round tiebreakers in large games!

The winner of the game receives $100 in fake dollars per player they beat. And the elusive pixel confetti and cheering noise. It feels good, but it won't pay the bills.

Do all players see the same clip?

Yes.

Do all players see the same multiple choice options?

The player in first place sees harder choices. The player in last place sees easier choices. Everyone else sees the same choices.

All players see the same choices in Bonus Rounds and Tiebreaker Rounds.

Every question has at least 20 alternate choices, so the choices will be different every time you see a question.

Can I play solo?

Yes. Just start a room by yourself and click "Ready", or play one of the solo challenges.

How do I boot a player from a game?

You can't yet. Coming soon.

What do the ratings mean?

Your rating will be "Rookie" until you play 10 group or solo games, when you will get an overall player rating for group or solo play. You also have ratings in categories of questions.

There are 15 rating levels:

  1. Top Gun - the best single player overall or in a given category. There is only one Top Gun per category.
  2. Grandmaster - the top tier of players. The Top Gun is the top-rated Grandmaster.
  3. Master
  4. Elite
  5. Great
  6. Very Good
  7. Good
  8. Above Average
  9. Average - technically slightly below average, but the title makes you feel better.
  10. Below Average
  11. Junior
  12. Intern
  13. Novice
  14. Amateur
  15. Clueless - you should watch more movies, or work on your memory.

Ratings are based on the distribution of underlying Elo ratings. At the moment, there are only 9 Grandmasters in the game (including the Top Gun).

How do the challenges work?

Challenges are refreshed periodically: once every hour, once every four hours, once a day, and once a week. You will see the same clips as everyone else for each challenge. If you hold the highest score when the challenge expires, you win that challenge. Daily challenges get harder as the week progresses: they start easy on Mondays and are hardest on Sundays. When you finish a challenge, you win fake dollars based on your score (10 points = 1 fake dollar).

The Discord channel is a great way to get notified of new challenges and who won each challenge.

How are ratings calculated?

There's a (hidden) Elo-style rating for every question, player, and category. It's similar to the rating system used in Chess.

Your ratings are solely based on which questions you get right and wrong. They have nothing to do with wins, games played, fake dollars, or amount wagered.

Which ratings are shown under the "Your Ratings" section at the beginning of the game?

That table shows your ratings in your best 10 categories and your worst 10 categories. There are hundreds of categories. You can click "view full stats" below your ratings to see the full list.

Which ratings are shown under my player avatar in the game?

Each player's avatar shows their ratings in their best 4 categories and their worst 2 categories.

When are ratings calculated?

Your ratings are adjusted at the end of every game.

Why did my rating change after I hadn't logged in for a few days?

Ratings are relative. If more strong players join, your ratings will go down. If more weak players join, your ratings will go up.

Where's the overall player leaderboard?

There isn't one. Due to flaws in human nature, leaderboards attract cheaters who like to collect fake internet points.

But I want to know how I stack up against random strangers I've never met before!

That's a flaw in human nature. Just play the game with your friends and have fun.

But I want to know who the best player on the site is right now!

OK, I can tell you that. It's Top Gun Will G. Will G has amassed fake-dollar winnings of $27,300 with 55 wins from 90 group games.

I have more fake dollars than Will G, why am I not the Top Gun?

Because ratings have nothing to do with fake dollars, wins, or wagers. They are purely based on how good you are at answering questions correctly.

Are you good at your own game?

I'm not the best, but I get by. My rating is Average. I have fake-dollar winnings of $22,600 with 68 wins from 193 group games.

I had a question that showed the title of the film!

Yeah, that happens sometimes. I'm going to add a "Flag Spoiler" button at some point, but with over 150,000 unique clips, it's never going to be perfect. Everyone sees the same clip, so it's not going to mess you up.

What does "couchmoney" mean?

Finding great, under-the-radar films and games is like finding money in your couch.

Why do I keep losing?

You probably haven't watched enough movies.

Where can I redeem my fake dollars for real dollars?

All fake dollars are redeemable for real US Dollars. The current exchange rate is that 1 fake dollar equals 0 real US dollars. You can do this redemption from the privacy of your own home.

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a single-player campaign mode?

Yes. I'm working on it.

I don't have a Google account or a Trakt account. Can I use this?

No. For now, you need a Google account or a Trakt account. Setting up a Trakt account is fast and free. Signing in with a Trakt account lets you save movies to watch later.

Do you support Letterboxd?

No. They did not respond to my emails.

Are you going to turn this off when the COVID-19 crisis is over?

Maybe.

If I keep it going after the crisis via Patreon or paid accounts, I will not turn off your account.

Why are Karl Malden and Marlon Brando in the title bar?

Because they are two of the greatest actors of the 20th century. Also because One-Eyed Jacks is in the public domain.

Is One-Eyed Jacks a good film?

Yes.

Where is your privacy policy?

It's here.

Where are your terms of service?

They are here.

Can I contact you?

Yes. But I might not reply.

Roll credits!